A letter to a spider

My dear Araneus diadematus

Why do you spin your web across my doorway? It is not that I mind of course,
but I’m always afraid of spoiling your creative work when my face becomes entangled with your silk, and it scares me a little! I can see your body is swollen with eggs and your dedication as a mother, is second to none. So I watch, with a heavy
heart, as you build a silken sac in which to lay your young. The children, you will never live to see.

Do you know that by late autumn, you
will die? Your devotion will cost you your life you know? Your refusal to leave home to hunt for food, will lead to starvation. If I could feed you, I would.

Please don’t worry about your spiderlings when they are born in May, I will watch out for them! And I will write them a letter too, telling them of your love and selflessness.

From a devoted friend and admirer

The spider died but her eggs remain. I will keep
my promise and watch over her children!